When we were pondering whether to install solar at our home, I wasn’t able to find before and after comparisons using actual numbers. Our first solar PGE bill came today, so here are the comparisons I’d been curious about.

We used to be on the usual tiered rate schedule with rates increasing as usage goes up. When the solar went in we opted for net-metering: the most expensive energy is during hours when solar production is likely to be at its peak. When you produce more than you use, the excess is credited against your bill.

kWh = kilowatt hour. That means if you use a 1000-watt light bulb for one hour, you have used 1kWh.

Our electricity usage was pretty much like last year’s, although we did try to do the laundry and use the dishwasher during the cheapest off-peak ours, which are between 9pm and 10am. The savings are pretty striking.

Using a more conservative monthly savings rate, I see the system paying for itself in 8 years, give or take a year. (If we had financed the entire system cost at 6%, the break-even point gets bumped out to 10-11 years.)

If you’d like to take a peek at our current solar production in real time as well as over time, head on over here:

We finally had a good chunk of time to finish most of the work on the Airstream and now to be able to get on with the rest of our summer. To catch you up, Tom had been looking for an Airstream for years to fix up. He found this 1962 Globe Trotter in March. The plan is to leave it in the yard (forever) as a pool decoration/cabana/guest house. Here’s how things have turned out so far:

Tom has the extrerior pretty shiny now and the shelter should get it through rainy weather.

These are the interior views. Amazingly, it does have a stove, oven, refrigerator, commode, sinks and a shower (none of which we have hooked up yet.)

Tom still has to decide what to do about the floor and walls so textiles were an important part of changing the interior for now. Clockwise from the upper left: “beach boys”, “las senoritas”, “the outdoorsey type”, and the bench fabrics which miraculously made the others talk with each other. By the way both benches pull out to 2-person sleepers.

It’s been quite a trip without actually going anywhere. Here’s what things looked like a few months ago:

And now: